Barnstable Town Council members and town residents are still fishing for compromise on a proposed two-year pier and dock ban, meant to protect fragile shellfish environments, in some of the town’s harbors. A decision is expected at the March 27 council meeting.

The March 6 public hearing was continued because the planning board lacked a quorum, but nearly two hours was still spent discussing changes and amendments to the latest proposal. Under discussion is a narrowed and time-limited pier ban for the town’s embayments.

The planning board again continued its public hearing until March 24 to allow more members of the board to fully participate in the discussion and vote. There was some consideration to invite the town council to the planning board's meeting to conclude both public hearings on the matter. The town council and planning board open and close their own public hearings on zoning matters, although they are typically held together.

The proposed two-year pier and dock building moratorium would include all areas proposed in the original document, including Barnstable and Hyannis Harbors, and would also create an ad-hoc committee to study the areas.

The months-long discussion on the ban has included strong feelings on both sides, and this meeting was no different.

Jonathan Taylor, a member of a family whose home ownership on Old Post Road extends 50 years, recalled the area’s coastal history. “We have a dock. We’ve always had a dock,” he said. In the past, “the entire coastline was full of docks.”

Taylor said he understands the need for protecting the town’s shellfish resources, but doesn’t see the supply deteriorating. “I have yet to see any evidence that docks affect shellfish … I have no trouble whatsoever picking up quahogs with my toes.”

Stuart Rapp, chairman of the shellfish advisory committee, countered that his group and others had numerous studies regarding piers and docks. “The evidence is clearly there,” he said. “The matter is whether you wish to agree with the evidence or not.”

Amendments made during the March 6 meeting include changes to the ban’s length -- both one-year and 18-month moratoriums were proposed -- and the proposal of an all-inclusive harbor study by council vice president Fred Chirigotis.

According to Chirigotis, the study, funding for which he will formally request at the council’s next meeting, would include the Three Bays area of North, Cotuit and West bays, as well as Barnstable and Hyannis harbors, and would be tied to the dock ban.

Chirigotis and other councilors stressed the need for cooperation between groups involved, suggesting the ad-hoc study committee include members of town boards, Barnstable residents and scientists specializing in the field.

The last comprehensive look at the town’s embayments was the work of the Coastal Resources Task Force completed in 1990.

“It’s an extremely important project,” Chrigotis said.

Other councilors, including pier ban co-sponsor Ann Canedy, agreed that discussion of the town’s waterways was in order and could possibly help decisions regarding piers and docks in the future. “Maybe at the end of 18 months or a year,” she said, “You wouldn’t need a permanent ban.”

However, Council President Janet Joakim stressed the study’s wider focus. “This study and these issues are not just about shellfish,” she said. “There’s a lot more to this.”

Joakim added that discussion of the proposed ban -- originally intended for the Three Bays area with the possibility of expanding -- should be kept as separate as possible from other harbor studies in order to speed the process.

The addition of other harbor areas to the study and moratorium, Joakim said, “is going to add more time.”

Despite continued discussion and disagreement over a pier ban and its length and location, most councilors agreed that the study needs to go forward.

“The collective interest is that we pursue a harbor management plan,” said councilor Rick Barry, who sponsored the pier ban legislation. Barry is liaison to the shellfish committee.